Love is like Lightning
by Indie Queen182
Summary: A Classic love story about how two best friends became lovers during their time at Hogwarts. Focusing in on the Marauders towards the end of their fifth year this story tells the tale of how Sirius and Remus got together.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

"Love is like lightening," the boy announced, well you could hardly call him a boy; however, he was not yet a man either, hovering somewhere in the grey, fuzzy in between of adolescence.

"What do you mean Padfoot, old chap? Not like you to say something so profound, that's more Moony's department," said the boy to his left, who happened to be called James Potter.

The mention of this name made the boy suddenly pay more attention to the conversation. "Well, it can be magical, yet have incredibly destructive effects. It'd both beautiful and ugly and the same time, rather like lightening" Padfoot, or rather Sirius Black, explained.

"I think you took too much of that Mind-Sharpening Mix in Potions today," quipped James, shaking his head.

The two best friends were sat in their favourite armchairs by the fire in the Gryffindor Common room. The conversation soon turned towards their usual subject matters, quidditch, how best to annoy Professor Slughorn in their next Potions lesson, the best curse to use on Snape…the usual.

Footsteps approached. The two boys looked up from their whispered plans to see Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew stood above them, they were better known as Moony and Wormtail to their fellow Marauders.

Remus collapsed into a chair on the other side of Sirius and buried his head in his hands,

"It's useless," he moaned, "I have spent hours trying to teach Peter to do it, but it's just never going to happen."

"Slow down!" said Sirius, "What were you teaching Peter? Not some strange, perverted, sexual act I hope" he teased.

"Just because I'm gay, doesn't mean I'm trying to turn all of my friends!" I wouldn't mind turning you though, he thought. Remus had a lot of thoughts like this about his friend; he usually pushed them to the back of his mind, however every once in a while he allowed them to drift once again into his consciousness. He couldn't help but admire Sirius' devilishly handsome grin, or the way he pushed his fringe out of his soulful grey eyes, when his black hair flopped stylishly in front of his face. Stop, he said to himself, Sirius is your friend.

"Earth to Moony!" Said James whilst Sirius waved a hand in front of his face, interrupting his thoughts and bringing his mind crashing straight back down to the Gryffindor common room.

"Where were you then?"

"Trying to help Peter with his Transfiguration work, the O.W.L's start next week and he still hasn't mastered a simple Vanishing Spell, which is bound to come up in the practical…"

Remus looked like he was about to burst out crying or have a nervous breakdown, or both.

"Don't worry about it Reme," Sirius started, "you'll do fine. As will Peter. He always does better when he's under pressure, don't you Wormtail?"

Peter, who was at on the floor in front of them was far to busy shoving Chocolate Frogs in his mouth to take much of the conversation, "What?" he said, feeling their eyes burning upon him.

"I said you'll do fine next week, won't you?"

"Oh, that, yeah. If not I'll retake a year." He said simply, turning back to his stash of sweets, and promptly shoving them in his mouth again.

"See?" said Sirius, "he'll be fine! Don't fret; you're like a mother hen sometimes. Well, wolf…"

Sirius had a knack for making his worries seem miniscule; it wasn't just his way with words. His mere presence had the same effect.

James seemed to notice that his friend's mind had once again drifted far away.

"Moony? What's with you today, it isn't that time of the month again yet is it?" he joked.

"You know full well it isn't," he snapped.

"Wish it was," murmured Sirius. "Had fun last time didn't we?"

"You may have done, but I certainly did not."

And with that, Remus picked up his bag and stormed up the spiral staircase to their dormitory. Beautiful though Sirius may be, he could be quite insensitive at times.

"What's his problem?" said Sirius, staring at the spot that Remus had occupied 30 seconds earlier.

God I can be stupid, he thought. Sirius knew that his friends lycanthropy was a touchy subject and that the transformations were painful, but surely things were better for him now that his friends could join him in animagus form.

Sirius didn't like to upset any of his friends, but for some reason whenever he made Remus sad, it hurt him even more.

The hurt in Remus' already haunted blue eyes was unbearable and almost pierced deep into Sirius' soul.

James looked at his friend, "What's troubling you Padfoot?"

"Oh, nothing. Just deciding the best hex to use on Snivellus. You know, the usual." He replied, he thought it best not to tell his friend the real reasons for his silence.

"There I can help," he said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.

So, things returned to normal, James and Sirius discussed hexing tactics whilst Peter looked up at them eagerly, still shovelling sweets down his throat.

However, Sirius' thoughts still lingered on his werewolf friend, as they so often did these days.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Though Sirius was an intelligent young man, he found it incredibly difficult to work out what his recent, more frequent thoughts of his friend meant, Remus on the other hand didn't have the same problem. He already knew his sexual orientation, so when he started thinking about his friend more often, and in a different way, he knew exactly what it meant.

"Oi, Sirius!" James shouted, "Stop thinking, it's really not like you.

"I'm beginning to worry," he joked.

"What? Oh, I must be turning into Moony. Speaking of Moony, do you know if he's forgiven me yet?"

"Of course I have, I can't stay mad at you forever now. Can I?" Well, it was true; Remus couldn't bear not talking to Sirius, having to see the hurt look upon his face every time he snubbed him.

"Are we going down to breakfast yet?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, come on you two. You've made up now so let's go get some food."

The four friends left the warmth of their dormitory to make their way down to the great hall where they would find their breakfast.

It was the Friday before the exams started, so there was a rather subdued atmosphere throughout the castle, even Sirius and James didn't play any practical jokes that day.

When they finally arrived in their final lesson of the day, which happened to be Transfiguration, along with their fellow fifth years from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, they were greeted by Professor McGonagall who stood behind her desk waiting for the class to settle down.

"Right class," She began, "I have been given the task of preparing you for next week and giving you your examination timetables."

At this, virtually the entire class seemed to turn a certain shade of green, except for Sirius and James who simply smiled. They were the cleverest in their year by far, but they seemed to lack in common sense and maturity, gaining at least one detention a week each.

"Cheer up Moony," whispered Sirius, grinning at his friend who looked like he was about to pass out again.

"I-am-going-to-die." He muttered back, Remus was really panicking because though he knew he was intelligent he always seemed to panic and slip up when he was under a lot of pressure. He certainly deemed his Ordinary Wizarding Levels to be pressure.

"You'll be fine Moony, you always are." His friend replied kindly, giving him a sympathetic smile and squeeze of the hand. Maybe the hand thing was too much thought Sirius, definitely too much. Sirius was about to apologise when…

"Is there something you wish to share with the class, Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black?"

"By the looks of it they were declaring their eternal love for each other Miss," a red-haired girl near the front said.

Stupid Lilly, always sticking her nose in thought Sirius.

"That's enough from you Lilly Evans. Well, care to explain yourself?"

"I was merely reassuring Remus that he was going to do fine in his exams next week, seeing as he looked like he was about to have a panic attack." Sirius answered.

Remus, whose mind was too busy lingering on the recent contact he had shared with Sirius merely looked up and nodded to show his agreement.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to put you both in detention for disrupting the class for so long, you can bring your books. I don't want to mess up your revision schedule too much."

"What about Lilly and her stupid remark!" exclaimed Sirius, he felt positively scandalised.

"Miss Evans merely stated what she saw." Professor McGonagall said simply before returning to her longwinded explanation of the examination process.

When they filed out of the room an hour later, Remus looked mutinous.

"I can't believe you've landed me in detention tonight! The examinations start on Monday, I really am going to die."

"I didn't do anything! It was that stupid Evans girl sticking her nose in again. Anyway, you'll be revising in the detention, we can revise together. I'll test you."

"Oi, don't talk about Lilly in that way. She's not all that bad."

"Sorry James, I forgot you have a bit of a soft spot for her. Well I say a bit, more like a lot, and I say a soft spot, you practically stalk her."

"I do not!" James said indignantly, and stormed off to talk to Gryffindor quidditch team's captain about the match in two weeks time.

After dinner, Remus and Sirius left the great hall to make their way up to Professor McGonagall's office. They had brought their books with them as they had been told to; they intended to revise for their Transfiguration exam on Monday, hoping that McGonagall, being their teacher for that subject might give them some advice.

"Good evening Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin. I have to say Remus; it is quite unlike you to be put in detention, especially this close to very important examinations. Your future depends highly upon how you fare next week."

"Yes professor, I'm sorry professor." Remus mumbled.

"Right then, sit down. You can sit together if you wish; I do not want to prevent you from participating in your usual revision activities."

The two boys sat at a desk together, took out their Charms notes and started to read through some information on Cheering Charms as this was their first exam on Monday.

After what seemed like hours, Professor McGonagall dismissed the two Marauders, who slowly began to make their way back up to the Gryffindor common room where their friends would surely be waiting for them.

However, when they arrived, the common room was devoid of life.

"Bastards," Sirius muttered, "I thought they would wait up for us."

"Oh well, come on we'd best go up to bed." Remus replied, wincing at his friend's vulgar use of language.

"No, I want to stay down here for a bit longer, I'll come up in a bit." Sirius said as he threw himself down onto a sofa in front of the fire, which was nothing but a pile of glowing embers now.

"Fine, I'll stay with you then, I'm not that tired and I could do with practicing those Cheering Charms a bit more, I still haven't quite got the hang of them yet…"

"Look Moony," Sirius began, "You are one of the best in our year, your Cheering Charms are perfect now sit down, put that book away and relax!"

Remus didn't really know what to say to this, everything Sirius had said was true. But of course, he always trusted the advice of the gorgeous Padfoot, how could he not with his (literal) puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, whatever. If I fail, on your head be it."

The two of them sat together by the fire chatting about all sorts of nonsense like would James ever get Lilly and whether Peter was actually a human being or if he suited his Animagus form of a rat better.

Finally, at about half past three in the morning, they got onto the subject of girls.

"So, anyone who catches your eye then Sirius?"

"Erm, there is this one person, but I'm not sure they like me." Sirius inwardly swore at this, Remus would surely put two and two together and realise that he liked a guy.

"So, are you going to tell me who then, or do I have to give you a splash of Veritaserum in your morning Pumpkin Juice?" Remus, however, inwardly jumped for joy at Sirius's little slip of the tongue and hoped that it meant what he thought it meant.

"Well, I would tell you, but you know me, I'm a quiet shy kind of a guy, keep myself to myself and all that."

"Hmmm, I personally would say that you are neither shy nor quiet, so why won't you tell me?" Remus was becoming rather impatient now, as Sirius could tell from the tone of his voice.

"Well, I suppose I could tell you. It might come as a bit of a shock to you, it would mean admitting that the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black has managed to produce not just a Gryffindor, but a Gryffindor who is a-"

Sirius was just on the verge of telling Remus his feelings when a sleepy looking James burst into the common room.

"What are you two still doing up?" He yawned, unaware of the furious faces of his two friends.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next week passed without too much trouble, all four Marauders thought they had faired well in their exams, including Peter who thought he had done better than he expected, Remus also found the exams far easier than he had expected them to be, what with all the hype around them. When he voiced this opinion to his friends they merely laughed at him.

"What's so funny?" he asked, staring at them incredulously.

"Well, Moony, I'm sure I've told you this plenty of times, but you are bloody brilliant at pretty much every thing , which is why James and I groan at pretty much all of your complaints about how you are going to fail." Sirius replied.

"Oh, so it really is like you said last Friday then?"

"What's this about last Friday?" James asked, he was rather suspicious about his friend's nighttime chat, and had decided to investigate it further.

"I tried to reassure Remus of his insecurities, that's all, and of course we discussed your chances with ickle Lillykins."

"Oh, right." James answered, though he did not believe this of course, they had looked like they were discussing something much more personal and meaningful. James was well aware of Remus' sexual preferences, and was sure he had a crush on Sirius. However, Sirius was a completely different kettle of fish, the Gryffindor heartthrob, loved by many who had loved many in return. Then again, when was the last time he had seen Sirius looking at another girl? And the way that Sirius looked at Remus reminded James of the way he looked at a certain redheaded beauty; he really did need to look into this.

"So," said Sirius, bringing James crashing back to Earth, "What are we going to do to celebrate the end of exams?"

"Well…" Started Peter, only to be interrupted by Sirius again, it really was as if he didn't exist sometimes.

"I have a couple of bottles of Old Ogden's finest in the dorm waiting to be cracked open; maybe we should have a little House party in the common room?"

"Well, that sounds like an excellent suggestion to me," James replied, "I might manage to hook up with Evans if she's a bit sloshed."

"Hmm, however much I would _love _to see James make a spectacle of himself, I shall have to decline. I fancy going to the library, I want to do some research

ready for next year."

"Moony you are a bore at times, just let your hair down for once. Please, for me?" Sirius begged, giving him the puppy dog eyes.

"Ok, but I'll hold you responsible if I fall behind!"

Sirius marched off in jubilation, who knew what could happen under the hazy influence of alcohol.

The four marauders reunited an hour later in the Gryffindor common room, Remus walked in to find Sirius atop a table making an announcement, the werewolf inwardly groaned at this, he would hate to make such a show of himself.

"…so, if everyone chips in a few galleons, there'll be plenty of booze to go around. I have Fire Whiskey, mead, good old-fashioned muggle vodka, and for those of you who are less adventurous some Butterbeer." Sirius finished, he was rather proud of the drink he had managed to acquire on his last visit to the Hogshead, he hoped Remus would be grateful, Sirius always like to please his friend.

James then came down the stairs from their dormitory levitating a record player in front of him, "Moony, you will be _so _proud of me, I've managed to change the way the record player works so it doesn't need electricity to work!"

Remus was about to say something to James, when his friend was inundated by the admiring comments of a fair few Gryffindor girls. Instead, he made his way over to where Sirius was at the drinks table, acting as barman of course, as James put on some oh so cool obscure muggle song, which after asking Sirius he found out was by some group called the Sex Pistols.

"I have to say," he explained, "I'm not a huge fan, but I reckon there's something behind this whole punk malarkey. I mean, the Clash are good, James dragged me to see a live show of theirs in some muggle dive but they were rather good."

Remus was just relieved to find out he was not expected to enjoy listening to the jerky sound that could barely be called music, however he didn't have to endure it long. James, facing mass displeasure at his choice of music had been forced to change the song, so now some nondescript pop music played that Remus knew to be Abba.

Whilst stood at the table, Sirius seemed not to notice numerous seductive glances from a group of sixth year girls stood near them. He also managed to coax Remus into having a shot race with him. After 6 mixed shots of whiskey and vodka, Sirius had made up his mind, aided slightly by the warm haze that the alcohol had created.

"Now this is more like it, come on Reme, dance with me."

"Erm," Remus could think of nothing he would rather do, but refrained from allowing himself to be dragged onto the makeshift dance floor. "Wouldn't it look a bit strange, you know, two blokes dancing together?"

"Where's your sense of adventure Remus?" And with that, Sirius dragged his friend right into the middle of the dance floor, as he did so the song changed to "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (a man after midnight)".

"I'm going to kill James!" Remus muttered into Sirius' ear, Sirius merely laughed and started to dance extravagantly, earning him many admiring glances from surrounding girls. He pulled Remus closer to him, so their hips were touching, and started to grind.

"Sirius please stop that," Remus whispered desperately, it was causing him to have a certain animal reaction. He was also increasingly aware of the odd glances they were attracting.

"Ok," Sirius inched back slightly; this seemed to confirm to him that Remus liked him. "I'm just going to the toilet anyway, I shall return shortly."

Left to his own devices, Remus made his way over to the drinks table once again. This time he came across James, who seemed to be trying to drown his insides with Fire Whiskey.

"I'm guessing things aren't going well with Lilly," Remus said.

"You think? I can't say the same for you and Sirius though." He replied, a smug grin on his face.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, actually it's been bugging me for quite a while, I mean I knew you fancied Sirius but I couldn't work out why he kept looking at you all funny. Then it hit me, he's a poof, like you!" James explained in his inebriated state as if it was something highly complicated, "So, I hatched this _amazing_ plan, well actually I didn't so much hatch a plan as take advantage of the situation. I put on Abba, which is Sirius' favourite group, seriously how did no one guess he was gay before now? I knew he wouldn't be able to resist dancing, and he asked you to dance with him. Aren't I a genius?"

"Yes James, of course you are" Remus said, in a highly patronising manner as his friend collapsed under the table. "To be honest I'm just surprised you didn't slur any of that."

He then looked over at James and realised that the conversation was over, he was now snoring his head off, dribbling down his top and slopping some potent drink down his front.

"God, and you wonder why Lilly won't go out with you?" Remus muttered to himself, "Oh, hey Peter. How are you?"

"I'm ok, I think I might be in with Lisa, you know, the fourth year with the big tits? I'm just getting us some drinks."

"That's nice," though as he said this Remus shuddered to himself, he reminded himself to apologize to the poor girl in the morning for Peter's perverseness.

Remus made to go up to the dormitory when he bumped into Sirius.

"Oh there you are, I was just looking for you. I was wondering if we could talk for a minute. Somewhere quiet?" Sirius blurted out all at once.

"Yes of course, let's go up to the dorm, there shouldn't be anyone there. James has passed out and Peter's harassing some big boobed blonde girl."

Sirius laughed nervously and followed Remus up to the solitude of their dormitory.

Remus sat down on his bed and stared expectantly at his companion, could this finally be the long awaited moment?

"Well," Sirius began, "This is really difficult, I mean I don't know where to begin. It's just, I think I like you."

"What?" Remus didn't dare believe what he was hearing; surely it must be some elaborate prank of Sirius and James.

"Oh fuck it," Sirius muttered before grabbing Remus and pulling him closer towards him. They were close, too close. Remus closed his eyes. The gap though millimetres seemed like fathoms to Sirius, it was finally closed as his lips brushed against those of Remus.

They were kissing, at first gently as they explored each other's mouths for the first time, and then more firmly. Remus bit down on Sirius' lip, Sirius then responded with a small moan of pleasure. A clear signal for Remus to do more.

Remus however pulled away, "Maybe we should go back down, people might notice we've gone."

"Always the worrier, aren't you?" Sirius then kissed him one final time before leading the way back down to the common room; no one would be able to guess the wondrous event that had occurred between two friends that evening. Remus was glad he had not gone to the library.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The marauders did eventually turn into bed that night, however James had to be carried up the stairs and Peter forcibly dragged away from the buxom Lisa by Remus who realised that Lisa was in the least bit interested. This was obvious to all but Peter, who seemed oblivious to the fact that she was sat there, pretty much unconscious, head on shoulder with drool trickling out of her mouth.

When Remus finally awoke the next morning it was to find the dormitory completely devoid of life, he was slightly miffed to say the least as he had expected that Sirius might have waited for him after what had happened between the two of them the previous night. However, looking back on things, Remus became slightly worried about the nights events, Sirius had been rather inebriated, what if Sirius had forgotten, or even worse, had regrets?

Remus made his way down the stairs to the common room, which bore absolutely no signs of the party; you really did have to applaud those house elves on their cleaning skills. He went to sit with Peter who, unlike the room, did bear the signs of a long night.

"So," he asked as he sat down, trying to sound as cool and calm as possible "Where abouts are Sirius and James?"

"McGonagall" he muttered feebly in reply, last night had taken its toll on Peter, especially as there was now yet another girl that he had to remember to avoid. Lisa it turned out, had had to drink herself into oblivion just to block Peter out and was not to happy now.

James and Sirius sat down in front of Professor McGonagall's desk, this was not an uncommon event yet they were both nervous. Somehow, Professor McGonagall had found about the party and the identity of the organisers.

The punishment for such a misdemeanour would be harsh and they knew this, which explained James' nerves, Sirius however was too busy going over his actions the previous night to worry about this. The last thing he remembered was having a shot race with Remus, but after that, things got a little hazy. His next memory was being woken up the next morning by an irate Professor McGonagall.

"So, why did you do this? Did you really think you could get away with such appalling behaviour?" The Transfiguration teacher was now in full swing and the boys knew she would probably go on for another hour at least, which was why the next question came as a shock, "So, are you going to explain yourselves?"

"Well…" Sirius began, only to be interrupted by James.

"You see the thing is, we only wanted to celebrate the end of our examinations, and as the school does nothing we had to take matters into our own hands. We didn't organise the alcohol or anything, we only wanted a small, quiet celebration between the fifth years, and the seventh years of course. Obviously things got out of hand, and for that I apologise Professor."

Sirius had to applaud James' ingenuity here; he really did come out with the most creative excuses sometimes.

"Be that as it may Mr. Potter, you should have come to me if you felt that some sort of celebration was in order. That is in fact a brilliant idea, I feel some sort of summer ball would be a fitting end to the year, we could have what the muggles call 'Prom' for fifth year and above , the evening before the end of term feast would be a fitting time I believe. A week would be long enough for the preparations."

Even James was amazed by how well this excuse had worked, and was already planning ways in which to spike the drinks when his train of thought was broken by Professor McGonagall's final comment.

"Oh, and as punishment you two boys can be involved in the planning of the event."

On leaving the room, Sirius and James could not believe their luck, this was the first time they had ever got away without at least an hours detention. All that they had to do was help organise this dance, and for that they would merely employ the help of someone who wanted to organise it, probably girls, and preside over the meetings to make it seem as if they were doing something.

They arrived back at their common room to find it deserted apart from Peter, who was still sat alone by a window.

"Where is everyone?" asked Sirius.

"Outside probably, Remus is in the library though I think. At least that's where he said he was going I think." He replied giving Sirius a knowing look.

"How did things go with Remus then? I'm surprised you haven't said anything yet I have to say." James asked, smiling at his friend.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sirius was now starting to panic, what had happened last night? He hadn't made a fool of himself in front of the whole House had he?

James just gave him a wink and a knowing look before walking off to find some girls to whom he could delegate the task of organising the dance, he had convinced Sirius to leave this to him as it would be a chance to try and talk to Lilly.

Sirius turned to Peter, on the verge of asking him what he had done the previous night, but was saved the need when Remus walked in, saw Sirius and bolted.

"Shit." He muttered to himself, before walking off after him, leaving Peter alone once again.

By the time Sirius had managed to catch up with him, Remus was already in the library, sat at his usual table towards the back , although it looked suspiciously like he was pretending to read, mainly because he was holding the book upside down.

"So," began Sirius, "What's up? Why the rush?"

"Oh, nothing. It really doesn't matter." Remus mumbled, trying to keep up the pretence of being immersed in his book.

"Come on, Remus, we're mates. You can tell me anything, surely you know that?"

"It really doesn't matter Sirius. I'd rather not talk about it." God, he thought to himself, how could I have been so stupid as to think that he would actually acknowledge it as having happened?

"Whatever," Sirius said before storming off, what was wrong with his beloved werewolf? He seemed so upset about something, if only he could recall what had happened the previous evening.

Remus continued to stare at his book, contemplating Sirius' motives. Did he regret what had happened; maybe it was all an elaborate joke. Or perhaps he had merely forgotten, Remus hoped it was the latter. That would be far easier to overcome. He then turned his book the correct way up and continued to read.

When Remus finally left the library that evening to find some food, he entered the Great Hall to find James making a fool of himself in front of Lilly, and Sirius talking to her friends, though not really paying them much attention.

Upon joining them, he heard the tail end of their conversation.

"So?" James was asking, "Will you help us with this? I'm sure you would do a better job than we could ever do, you know that us guys are useless."

"What is the male race so useless at James?" Remus asked, quite intrigued by the conversation. It really wasn't like James to be so humble.

"Oh, nothing. McGonagall has asked us to organise a little party for the end of the year, and we, being as considerate as we are, decided to ask the opinion of some of the people who shall be attending said party."

"Was that ask, or order?" Remus asked, barely able to stop himself from laughing at the predicament James and Sirius had got themselves into. They obviously saw it as the soft option, compared to a few hours of detention, however Remus realised it would not be.

"You do realise that you actually have to do some organisation, don't you? McGonagall isn't stupid, she'll realise if you get the girls to do it."

"Of course, we shall oversee all the meetings, all we want from the girls are suggestions. Honestly." James replied, he could see that Remus did have a point; maybe it wouldn't be so easy.

"So, Remikins," Sirius started, "How would you like to join our little organisation? We could use someone like you, you have amazing organisational skills."

"Fine, but only to make sure it doesn't all go pear shaped."

"Great!" James said, rubbing his hands together as he got up from the table, "First meeting tonight at eight in the common room, it shouldn't take to long!"

The meeting went without any major hitches. As Remus had expected, James had not really expressed an opinion on anything, though Sirius was far more involved and actually got into an argument about the colour of the tablecloths. By the end of the meeting, all major details had been decided upon, such as music, food drink and decorations. All that was left to do was to inform the fifth, sixth and seventh years and send out the invitations.

"So," said Sirius whilst yawning loudly, "I'm off to bed now, coming Remus?"

"Yeah, ok." This would be a perfect chance to confront Sirius about the party.

When they got up to the dorm, Sirius spoke first. "Look Remus, I'm sorry if I've done anything to upset you. If you want to talk I'm here."

"It doesn't matter anymore Sirius, I'm over it." He replied, before climbing into bed and closing the curtains on Sirius, once again he had bottled it.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The day of the summer ball had finally dawned, and no one was looking forward to it as much as James was. He knew this might finally be his chance to get with Lilly, and sort out the mess that was Sirius and Remus.

Everything would be perfect; the preparations had gone without a hitch, the girls were going to decorate the hall later, the invitations had gone out at last, unfortunately the Slytherins were to be invited, and Sirius, being the genius he was, had come up with an amazing way to spike the drinks without the teachers realising. All that was left to do was actually convince Remus to go.

"Come on Reme, please. I'll get down on my hands and knees and beg you if I have to. Please, please, please, please…" Sirius had been like this for hours now, and it was starting to annoy James greatly.

"Look Remus, the only way to get him to shut up is to agree to go. Please, put an end to all of our misery and just say yes." James butted in, sick and tired of Sirius' whining.

"Fine, Sirius, I'll go to the dance with you. Not _with you_ with you- just with you. As in with you and James and Peter." Remus had gone perfectly red; he hated it when he said stupid things like that. He was normally so eloquent, but when he was around Sirius his brains turned to mush, it was as if he just had a skull filled with liquid at times.

"Yey! Remus, you can help with my evil plans now!" Sirius, was jumping for joy, on the inside, on the outside he merely slapped Remus on the back.

"What evil plans are these?" Remus asked, but it was no good. Sirius winked at him and walked off, to perfect his scheme no doubt.

Remus looked over to James to see if he could give him some answers, but he just shrugged at him before following Sirius out of the portrait hole.

"So Sirius, what are these evil plans of yours?" James asked, panting after running to catch up.

"You'll find out soon enough." Sirius said simply as they passed two Hufflepuff girls, who burst into a fit of giggles at the sight of Sirius.

"I wish they wouldn't do that. I mean, do they really think giggling at me will get them anywhere?" Sirius asked James a little too loudly, causing the girls to run around the corner.

"Would they get anywhere even if they didn't giggle Sirius?"

"Well, no 'cause they were like third years or something. But girls annoy me when they're like that. I wish they would just openly say they liked you; it would make life a hell of a lot easier." As he said this, Sirius slammed his hand against the wall. "Ouch, fuck that hurt."

"Do you mean girls or do you really mean Remus?" James asked, a bemused look upon his face.

"What's that supposed to mean? You know I'm not gay, I could have any girl in the school that I want, and I have." Sirius was getting worried, if James had worked it out that meant Remus probably had, no offence to James but he wasn't the brightest button in the box.

"Hmm, explain the way you gaze longingly at him then? Didn't think you could, but don't worry he likes you too." James said knowledgeably, god I'm a genius he thought to himself.

"Are you sure about this James? I mean, your track record isn't great when it comes to reading people, you've been convinced that Lilly's in love with you for five years when she obviously hates you."

"She just needs time to realise her feelings…" Sirius had got James with that one, but James was well aware that Lilly didn't really like him, it was just nice to be able to hope. How could he tell him without bringing the events of the party into it? "Oh sod it, look you know how you've had a bit of a memory blank? Well, you came onto Remus a bit, nothing major that I know of but you were dancing together. All my doing of course."

"I don't understand, what's so big about dancing?"

"You were _dancing_ dancing."

"Oh," Sirius said understanding what James was saying. "But what about other people, how come they haven't mentioned anything?"

"They just thought you were drunk."

"So is that why Remus has been a bit quiet recently? And didn't want to come to the dance." A lot of things started to make sense to him all of a sudden.

James smiled knowingly and turned to walk back to the common room, leaving Sirius to think about these revelations.

Once back in the common room, James spied Remus who was sat in an arm chair talking to Peter. As he made his way over, greeting people as he passed them, receiving congratulations for his win against Slytherin in the Quidditch Cup, he managed to catch the tail end of their conversation.

"…I don't think he has a date Remus. Why are you so bothered?"

"Hi guys. What's up Moony?" James asked trying to sound cool.

"Nothing, just wondered if Sirius had managed to narrow down his many date applicants to one final partner." Remus responded rather bluntly.

"Not that I know of, but there is one special person he has his eye on. Anyway, let's go get ready."

"We have four hours left Prongs, what's the point?"

"The point, Peter, is that I want to look nice so I have a chance with the ladies. Well, Lilly. I already have a chance with most girls. Look, there go all the girls, why can't we go?" James really couldn't see why it was ok for girls to worry about their appearance when guys couldn't.

"Look, James. Let's get ready in half an hour, what colour are your dress robes?" Remus asked, trying to grab onto this topic to steer away from Sirius.

"Erm, blue possibly, like my eyes. That's what my mum said when she picked them out anyway."

Remus heard laughing behind him and wasn't surprised when he turned around to see Sirius stood behind him.

"Seriously, your mum still picks out your clothes for you? That is slightly sad my friend."

"My mum picks out my clothes…"

"Yeah Petey, but that's because you can't be trusted to do it yourself."

"Well, Sirius, it's not my fault I don't have your natural sense of style, it just comes more easily to your people." James retorted, hoping to hit Sirius where it hurt.

"What are you talking about James? You're so strange sometimes. Anyway, let's go get ready now; we have to be down early to 'supervise' the preparations."

Remus suddenly noticed a bag in Sirius' hand. "What have you got there?

"My evil plan… I just sneaked out to Hogsmeede to get it off Aberforth in the Hog's Head. I have alcohol! Go me!" Sirius exclaimed, whipping the bottles out of the bag.

"I think I just found a flaw in you plans Sirius, you have three bottles of fire whiskey but there are about 90 people invited, and some of them are bringing dates from other years." James pointed out smugly; he loved it when Sirius made a stupid mistake it made him feel even more genius-like.

"Now, that's what you think but there is a twist to the plan, but you know that old muggle saying, a magician never reveals his secret. Well, I'll have to reveal it to Remus, because I shall be enlisting his help with my marvellous scheme.

Anyway, onwards to the dormitory to ready ourselves for the dance!" With this he did a funny sort of prance and made his way to the dorm, followed by the others.

Just by the staircase, Sirius was cornered by a group of girls from their year asking who he was going with.

"Alas, I have no partner as such. But fear not my fair maidens, for I, Sirius Black, shall succeed in finding an angel to accompany me. But now, I must make my way up these treacherous stairs to fight the urge to laugh at Peter as he squeezes himself into his dress robes."

"Come on mate, lay off the dramatics and let's go get you dressed." James said, before forcibly dragging him up the stairs. "What's with the angel bit, I thought you wanted Remus?"

"But he is my angel, with his milky skin and golden locks…"

"Get a grip, he might hear you and think you're such a pansy that he no longer wants you."

"Fine, I shall lay off the amateur dramatics, for now. But one slight hint that my lickle Remikins likes the am dram and it returns!"

"Have you been drinking Sirius? You're starting to worry me with your intellectual language."

"I may have had a little tipple when I went to collect the alcohol from dear Aberforth. Just to settle my nerves you know. Anyway, onwards and upwards, our dress robes await!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Once they had finished preening themselves, the four marauders made their way down to the Great Hall to oversee the last minute preparations.

Both James and, surprisingly, Peter had managed to find dates. James would be accompanying a beautiful Ravenclaw named Michaela, whilst a very desperate fourth year had somewhat reluctantly agreed to go with Peter, merely so she could attend with her friends.

In the entrance hall, James was approached by Michaela who apologised saying "I truly am sorry James, you're a great guy and everything but someone else asked me last night and I like them more, so I'm going to have to decline your invite. Sorry."

James just shrugged and said it was ok, and that he understood. He'd only invited her because he had heard she was easy, of course he didn't say that to her face, but to Sirius and Remus once Michaela had gone back to her group of friends.

So now three of the marauders were going to be going stag, well all of them really as it was highly unlikely that Peter's date would stick around for long. This had blown Sirius' new plan slightly; he thought it was the most amazing plan ever. He had come up with it five minutes earlier whilst brushing his teeth, so it really wasn't the most amazing plan ever.

"So Petey, what's your dates name again?" James asked whilst levitating the glasses onto the tables.

"Erm, Jackie Hamelpotterblotter. She's a Hufflepuff."

"You don't say, with that name." James replied. Trying not to laugh he turned to Sirius who looked rather nervous.

"What's up mate?"

"I'm nervous about Moony; the effects of the alcohol have gone. I believe I need more."

"No, that's what went wrong last time. Just relax, be yourself. He already likes you, so you've got the hard part over with. Look there's Peter's date, have you heard her name? It's Jackie Hamelpotterblotter, I mean what the fuck!"

"That is sad; I hope she has no brothers, you know, so that the name dies with her." Sirius said, having the same reaction as James, although he turned to Remus rather than himself of course.

"So Remey, looking forward to this shindig? You never know, you might get lucky!"

"I doubt it, there aren't many people like me in school are there?" Remus replied, trying to concentrate on the job in hand, rearranging all of the glasses that James had set out.

"You never know who might be interested though Mooney."

With that Sirius winked at Remus before walking off in search of a girl to sort out the napkins whilst he set up the sound system with James- in order to save money they had decided not to hire a band, so would be DJ-ing themselves. James thought it was a sure fire way to attract the girls, especially Lilly.

Once the last minute preparations were complete, the Hall was almost unrecognisable, apart from the ceiling of course, which would be rather difficult to cover up. The usual four House tables had been replaced by a number of smaller, round tables each designed to seat about eight, this way it would be far more personal.

The Marauders were seated together, with Peter's date and some of the other organisers, including Lilly Evans, who, to James' delight, was alone.

They all made polite small talk over the meal, even James and Sirius stuck to socially acceptable topics of conversation, to impress Lilly and Remus respectively.

After the last of the plates had been cleared, Jackie, as predicted, made her way to her friends leaving Peter behind. However, she rather unexpectedly came back over to drag him with her; apparently she had taken a shine to him.

"Wow, I did not see that coming!" James said, rather impressed that such an event could happen. "Anywho, I shall have to leave you two to it as I am required elsewhere!"

"I assume that you are referring to the D.J booth as I am sure that there are no red headed damsels in need of your services." Sirius jibed, hoping to wind his best friend up in the way that only he could.

It had worked and James skulked off to fulfil his duties.

"So Reme, do you want me to let you in on the plan now?"

"If you must Sirius, I sincerely hope that it doesn't break any rules though."

"Would I plan to break rules? I thought you knew me better than that!"

At this, Remus raised his eyebrow at Sirius before following him outside so that they could discuss things in the quiet; James had just begun to play some loud music so there was no way of discussing things inside.

"So," Sirius began once they were outside. "This really is the most genius plan I have ever put together."

"OK, just tell me Sirius. Whenever things are built up they just end up being a huge disappointment. I'm assuming we're just going to spike the drinks or something."

"Well, yeah, obviously. But this is a spiking with a difference. Firstly, to make sure the teachers don't realise, we make sure they are well and truly wasted. Then, we use Replenishing Charms to make sure that these three tiny bottles of Fire Whiskey will go around. Also, we barely have to do a thing as I already enlisted the help of the bar staff and have put the word around that people will be able to get served. All we have to do is the initial spiking of the teachers drinks."

"I have to say, I am fairly impressed that you thought to use Replenishing Charms. I thought that you were asleep in that lesson. But how do you propose we spike the teachers' drinks? They aren't stupid; I mean they will notice that their drinks taste or smell differently." Remus smiled at his friend's ingenuity, the teachers just didn't realise quite how clever James and Sirius were.

"Hence the use of a tasteless, colourless spirit I nicked from my parents drinks cabinet, but to get it in their drinks I really need your help. You need to distract them whilst I put some in." Sirius explained, sure that this suggestion would receive some protest.

"But Sirius, wouldn't it be better to do it the other way around? You could just cause some trouble or something."

"I want to stay here and enjoy the night though; if you involve them in conversation it will look far less suspicious."

Remus was stumped at this argument, Sirius really had thought of everything.

Sirius was jumping for joy, he had successfully initiated the first stage of Operation: Get Moony (not very original but the best he could think of in the five minutes it took him to brush his teeth, he's very thorough).

Now he had involved Remus in his plans to make the evening more interesting, he knew that they would be spending the evening together which meant it would be far easier to make a move on his beloved werewolf friend – all he had to do was remain sober and make sure the other two marauders stayed away.

Spiking the teachers' drinks was far easier than Sirius had expected, mainly due to the close relationship Remus shared with all of them, he really was a swot.

"So Reme, what shall we do now?" Sirius knew what he wanted to do but thought it wise to wait a while so that both of them were relaxed enough to let their guard down a little.

"Erm, shall we go get a drink to celebrate your amazing brain power and the success of our little scheme?" He could also do with settling his nerves a little, and knew from past experience that Sirius was more likely to act on impulse if he was a little drunk.

"Ok, but not too much like last time, I can't remember a thing that happened that night. James has told me bits, but I don't know how much to believe."

Remus inwardly somersaulted at this, hoping it meant what he thought: that James had told Sirius what he had done and that Sirius was glad.

The boys made their way to the bar and downed a couple of shots before making their way to a table in the corner, away from the dance floor and the other students. They made small talk; both of them so nervous about the events that they knew were inevitable. They both wanted it to happen so much, yet they were both scared of what would happen once it did.

Sirius raised his glass of Butter beer to his lips, looking at Remus the entire time, taking in his appearance. The way Remus' hair fell in front of his face and the way his deep eyes flicked nervously from Sirius to the table brought a smile to his face.

"So, Reme, you wanna dance?" Sirius suggested, praying that the answer would be yes.

"Erm, no, I don't really fancy it to be honest, I get embarrassed dancing when there are people in the vicinity."

"Pretty please, I promise to be a good boy for the rest of term if you dance with me." Sirius replied, giving Remus, what he thought was, his best puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, but don't look at me like that in future. Your eyes look really creepy."

James, who was currently playing some nondescript pop music to please the masses, smiled at Sirius and Remus as they walked past, attempting to get Sirius' attention so he could thank him for the drink.

"Oi, Sirius, you're a genius!" He shouted. Sirius however ignored him; he had far more important things than his intelligence to worry about.

"Do we have to dance Sirius?" Remus asked once they arrived on the dance floor, pleading him to say no with his eyes.

"Fine, do you want to go and get some air then instead?"

Remus nodded; relieved that there would be no repeat of the last time they had shared a dance floor and followed Sirius out of the doors to the grounds. Now that he was not preoccupied with silly plans, he realised how beautiful the grounds looked that night. The flower beds were bathed in silver moon light and the rose bushes were definitely a good idea of James' as they looked spectacular in the half light.

Suddenly, the boys heard a rustling noise coming from one of the bushes, and after giving each other a signal decided that they had best investigate, you know just in case some one was in danger…

"What are you playing at Sirius?" Peter squeaked as his date ran back inside, readjusting her dress as she did.

"Wow, Pete. I didn't know you had it in you." Remus replied, stunned that any woman could find Peter the least bit attractive.

With this, Peter stormed off inside to find Jackie.

"So, shall we go sit on one of those benches?" Sirius suggested, still rather shocked by the disgusting sight he had just witnessed.

The two marauders sat in silence for what seemed like hours until Remus plucked up the courage to speak.

"How much did James tell you about that party?" He asked.

"Oh, just that we were dancing together a bit."

"Ok. How do you feel about that? I mean… are you glad, or embarrassed or what?"

"Happy, I suppose. I mean ecstatic really. I'm just sorry I can't remember it really. That's why I wanted to dance now, you know, make some new memories. Ones that might actually stay in my mind."

This put Remus at ease, making him giggle a little. "You know, that's not all that happened. You kissed me as well."

"What? Where?" Sirius was genuinely shocked by this; he was sure that if such a marvellous thing ever happened that he would remember it clearly.

"In the dorm-"

"No, where abouts on you?"

"On the lips..."

"Oh. Did you enjoy it?"

Remus was finding it hard to read Sirius' reaction so decided to be blunt with him, "Yes, I mean it's not every day I get kissed by a gorgeous man like you."

"I can't believe I can't remember it, I was sure I would remember our first kiss…"

With that, Sirius moved closer towards Remus, getting closer and closer until their lips finally met.

Sirius ran his tongue along Remus' lips, opening them, and began to explore deeper. Remus returned this in kind, his arms enclosing Sirius as his hands started to explore, going further and further down his back. Sirius, who up until that point had forgotten his hands at the end of his arms, brushed one against Remus' face, leaving it to rest clutching at his hair. The other began to journey up the inside of Remus' leg, getting closer and closer to its goal.

"Black! Lupin! What on earth do you think your doing?" Professor McGonagall had appeared from nowhere to break up the moment, a murderous look upon her face.

"Erm, sorry Professor. We'll just be going inside now…"

"Ok, I want a word with you two later though."

"I'm sorry miss, but would you be having this reaction if you'd just caught me with a girl?" Sirius remarked before Remus dragged him back inside by the hand, leaving Professor McGonagall to ponder over his comment.

They spent the rest of the evening with James, in the dorm where they had carried him after he had passed out. James' evening had not been quite as successful, after seeing Lilly kissing some Ravenclaw he had proceeded to the bar to drown his sorrows. Remus and Sirius passed the rest of the night making sure he didn't drown in his own vomit, sharing the odd smile and knowing look.

Sirius definitely wouldn't make the mistake of forgetting this night.


	7. Chapter 7

It was the day after the ball, and the day before the marauders must part for the summer holidays, the sun beat down upon the hung over marauders as they sat by the lake for what would probably be the last time that year.

They had just finished there breakfast, well lunch, when James had decided that a stroll in the sun was in order, however none of them could really stomach the walk so they had collapsed on the lake side to discuss what the holidays held in store for them.

"We all have to get together at some point." James decided.

"Are you a complete idiot or something? We do that every year. That was slightly obvious." Sirius pointed out, sharing a secret smile with Remus.

"What we need to decide is who's house we're meeting at, and when." Remus continued.

"Do we have to discuss this now? It's giving me a headache." Peter interjected; the previous night had taken its toll on him once again.

"Fine! Whatever! See if I care! We can all just sit at home, alone, in boredom." James replied, pretending to be hurt.

Professor McGonagall appeared behind James, and motioned towards Sirius and Remus to join her.

"I wonder what that's about." Peter said, intrigued as to why Remus had been summoned by a teacher, it was a very un-Remus thing to happen.

Remus and Sirius had not yet divulged the details of the previous night to their friends, not out of shame and embarrassment because James and Peter already accepted Remus for being gay but because they simply had not had the time. They only just had breakfast after all.

"So boys, I think you know what this is about." Professor McGonagall began once they were out of earshot of the other Marauders.

Sirius and Remus just looked at the floor, unsure what to say. This was possibly the first time Sirius had been speechless when confronted by a teacher, unless you count in Divination lessons, but that was understandable.

"I'll begin then shall I?" McGonagall said, shocked by the sudden quiet of the loudest boy she had ever known. "I apologise for my reaction last night, and Sirius I would have had the same reaction whether you were with Remus or some girl. Just to clear that one up, I am in no way homophobic.

Some of your fellow students on the other hand… I just wanted to warn you I suppose that maybe you shouldn't be as open as you were last night.

I'm sure things would have been much worse had you been discovered by some of the Slytherins in your year. With me you just had to suffer some mild embarrassment, and this conversation."

Sirius smiled at his head of House, thankful for her understanding and advice. She really wasn't that bad sometimes. Remus however nodded sagely, taking in what she was saying.

"So you're saying that we should just hide who we are?" he asked, slightly annoyed at this.

"All I'm saying is I could do without any more duels this week Mr. Lupin." With that, the professor walked off to leave the boys to their thoughts, hoping her message had sunk in.

"So…" Sirius said.

"So…"

This was the first time they had been alone since the previous night, neither of the boys had quite come to terms with the kiss yet so obviously some talking had to be done…

"Remus, you know last night, it was what you want isn't it?"

"Of course Sirius," Remus replied, almost laughing at how insecure his friend could be. "Look, I fancy you like mad, I have done for ages. Now just shut up, stop worrying and kiss me."

At this Sirius openly laughed, shocked by his new lovers forwardness. He was not used to this confident Remus.

"Well, you don't need to tell me twice" he said before complying with Remus' wish.

Sirius gently pressed his lips up against Remus', whose mouth parted slightly to allow Sirius to enter. His hands rested around Remus' waist, pulling him closer so that they almost melted into one another. Remus' hand travelled up his partners back, resting on the back of his head, almost as if it were holding it in place.

After surfacing for air, the two boys settled on the grass to get on with some highly important business, more kissing.

James was beginning to worry; Sirius and Remus had been gone for an hour now. Surely McGonagall wasn't talking to them for that long.

"Peter, do you wanna help me look for Padfoot and Moony? I think they might've been ambushed or something. They've been gone ages."

Peter was about to ask if he had to, then thought better of it; in his delicate state he couldn't really be bothered with confrontation.

"I think they went somewhere up the lake, but they were with McGonagall so what's the worry?" He replied instead.

"She wouldn't be talking to them for this long would she?"

Peter got up from his rather comfy spot of ground leaning against the tree and followed James in the direction that the boys had left.

The screams of all four marauders sounded, as James and Peter stumbled across Sirius and Remus. They had not quite been prepared for the site of their two best friends wrapped around each other with their tongues down their throats; just as Sirius and Remus had not been prepared for the sudden entrance of James and Peter.

"I am so sorry mate…" Peter began. "It was James' idea to come and find you."

"So are you two…?" James asked, grinning.

Remus and Sirius smiled at each other before nodding their confirmation.

James squealed before practically jumping on his two friends to give them a congratulatory hug.

"Not you as well?" Peter asked before being punched in the arm by James who had just got to his feet to try and reclaim his masculinity.

"No, I'm just pleased these two have finally got their acts together. So are you going to act all couple-ey now? Because I won't stand for all that lovey-dovey nonsense."

"No, McGonagall suggested that we keep it quiet for now, what with prejudices and everything." Remus replied.

"That and neither of us are of the female persuasion so we don't find constant public displays of affection necessary." Sirius added, winning a chuckle from Peter who had ditched Jackie last night because she was too clingy.

"Are you sure you're ok with that Sirius… I know how you like to make a spectacle of yourself!" James joked.

"Shut up Potter, just cos I'm a nancy doesn't mean I won't hit you!" Sirius replied before lunging for James, knocking both of them in the lake in the process.

"Oh thanks, Sirius. Now I'm wet… Peter help me get out"

However, James changed his mind halfway through being helped out and decided to drag Peter in instead.

"Urgh… great…"

Remus started to laugh uncontrollably at this spectacle, all three of his friends were soaking wet trying to climb out of the lake and shouting about how Remus should be ashamed for not helping them. How lucky he was to have such mature friends… well maybe they weren't mature but they were his and he wouldn't trade them for anything. Especially not Sirius. His Sirius.


End file.
